Entertainment Center
by Talliya
Summary: Duo busts his entertainment center as a way of seeing his crush again. Part of my Fix-it Verse.
1. Duo's POV

_**I do not own any rights to Gundam Wing or its characters. This work is not for profit.**_  
 _ **Part of my Fix-It Verse!**_

Duo was super proud of his first 'big' purchase after settling into his new apartment and new job. He had finally managed to get his Computer Engineering and Software Development degrees and had landed himself a lucrative job doing Landscaping via computer imaging. Since he had worked his way through college doing actual landscaping and enjoyed it almost as much as he'd enjoyed piloting Deathscythe as a teen he'd decided to stick with it.

He helped move the large box into his living area, Heero - still shaking his head at what Duo had bought with his first 'I can buy something not essential to existing' check - on its other side. The entertainment center was equipped with surround sound speakers that he knew he would need help hanging up. Triton had recommended it to him after having set up the system for Quatre several months before. Duo figured it wouldn't be so hard to set up in his apartment and was hoping he could get Triton to help him with it. But that was for later.

"Hey, you want a drink?" Duo asked of the man that had helped him move in and arrange the vast majority of his new apartment into livable space over the last two days.

Heero shook his head, "Sorry, but if I don't get going I won't have time to shower and change before my anniversary dinner. Relena may shoot 'me' if I'm late."

Duo chuckled at the imagery, "Sorry, I'd forgotten that was today. Five years and neither of you have been shot by the other yet. I'm beginning to think saying that is just your way of saying you love each other."

Heero just grinned at him as he headed for the door but paused when he reached it. "Don't forget you're invited to dinner this Friday."

Duo nodded his head, "No worries, I'll be there. Go have dinner with your wife. I've got a cold beer calling my name."

With another exasperated shake of his head at his best friend's expense Heero was gone. Duo headed to his kitchenette and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He pulled the tab and took a long swallow before setting the can on a counter top and heading back to the massive box sitting behind his sofa. He plucked the ever present knife from his boot and opened said box before proceeding to pull everything out of it. He looked over the instructions, pouting as he realized that the setup was rather simple. He shrugged his shoulders, he'd call Triton anyway - after all he _was_ gonna need help hanging up the speakers.

Glancing up at the clock above his television set he frowned again, Triton wouldn't get off of work for another hour. He gave a mental shrug, well it wasn't like the man could come and help him out that day - or even the next - anyway. Them not living in the same city and all. Like Heero and Relena, Triton lived in Sanq, the same place Duo had lived before quitting the Preventers and going to college. He was lucky that Relena had insisted on herself and Heero helping him to find a new place in the town he'd always wanted to live in. Duo shook his head as he remembered Relena's excited voice at every apartment they'd looked at in the last week. He glared at the clock on his wall for a moment, he couldn't wait to hear Triton's voice and hopefully set up a time for him to come to Astoria and see his new place as well as help him set up his new speakers. It was a little embarrassing how much of a crush he had on his friend, but he didn't want to ruin their friendship by saying anything about it, Triton had enough on his plate with the Circus and being a part-time Preventer Agent.

Thinking of having Triton over reminded him that he still had to finish setting up the guest bedroom. He was hoping that Triton would be using it a lot in the future. Twenty minutes later he had the bed frame together and pushed into place when he realized he had left his beer in the kitchen and he still had his boots on. With a sigh and a self-deprecating shake of his head he went to fetch it, draining the much warmer contents in a few swallows. He rinsed the can and tossed it in with the other cans to be recycled later and grabbed himself a glass of water. Then headed for the front door and took his boots off.

That finished he headed back to the guest room and moved the dresser, desk, and desk chair into place as well. Then he proceeded to bring in the boxspring and mattress for the bed and throw them on the frame. He pulled out a protective bed cover that Hilde had given him as a graduation gift - knowing he planned on getting his own place after college - and fit it over the mattress. There wasn't much reason to make up the bed when no one would be using it any time soon. He had bedding for it obviously, but until someone was due to sleep in it? Yeah, no point in it getting all dusty.

He headed back to the living room and moved everything out of the way - sofa, television, clock, coffee table, game systems, cable box - and began assembling his new entertainment center. A few hours later he sat back on his sofa and surveyed the scene in front of him: it was much better than simply having everything on the floor that was for sure!

Looking at the clock again had him scrambling up and searching frantically for his phone. Once found he made a quick call to the local pizzeria for his dinner and then he called Triton, hoping he wasn't catching him in traffic or while he was busy doing something important, like sleeping.

"Hey Duo! How's your new place?" Triton's voice answered on the second ring.

Duo chuckled, "It's great. Relena helped me pick it out and Heero's been helping me move in and arrange everything."

"Heh, they going to that restaurant 'Lena's been goin' on about for ages now?"

"I think so. Today is their anniversary after all. I doubt they'd be going anywhere else. I honestly think Relena insisted on helping me look for a place just so they'd be here for it so that she could go to that damn restaurant." Duo laughed.

"Most likely." Was the amused reply and Duo could almost picture Triton shaking his head slightly.

"I bought that entertainment center you suggested."

"Oh? How do you like it?"

"It looks good, certainly better than having everything laid out on the floor." Duo grinned as Triton chuckled in his ear. He would never get tired of that sound. "I was actually wondering when the next time you had time off was. And if you aren't already planning on spending it doing something with Cathy. I'd like for you to see the place, and maybe help me hang up these speakers? It's the only part I can't really do by myself, and Heero and Relena will be sightseeing for the rest of their time here until Friday afternoon when I'm required to have dinner with them."

Triton's voice was warm as he answered, "I'd love to come out there and see it. And helping you hang up the speakers would be no problem at all. I've got some time off lined up in a couple of weeks, you think you can handle those precious speakers not being in their proper places that long?"

I could wait forever so long as it meant you were going to be here. Duo thought before answering brightly, "Of course! I'll be waitin' for ya!" Forever...

There was clearly a smile on Triton's face as he said, "Alright, I'll see you then. For now I've got to get dinner and some sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Call me any time Tri, I'll always answer." Duo's voice was sincere.

"Goodnight Duo." Triton's voice was so soft Duo almost missed him speaking.

"Goodnight Triton." Duo hung up the phone just in time to answer the door for his pizza.

A couple of weeks later Duo was trying his best not to chew out a customer. The man was being ridiculous about the layout Duo had planned for his backyard. It was the only way Duo had been able to fit everything into it that the man wanted and still have it be functional, but the guy wasn't having any of it. Which wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't making Duo late to pick up Triton from the airport.

One of the other employees saw the mounting rage on Duo's face - and knowing that the man was a former Gundam Pilot and therefore completely capable of killing said customer - he came over and intervened. Duo could have kissed him! Except by this point Duo knew that this particular man was happily married and had three of the cutest kids in existence.

"I'm sorry Mr. Carter, but Mr. Maxwell is supposed to be off the clock already. If you must talk to him about the problems your yard is having you'll have to come back tomorrow. Or you could write everything down here on one of our memo pads and we'll try our best to get you exactly what you want." Yep, Brian was a Saint! "Duo, you go on and clock out. Your friend's waitin' for you ain't he?"

Duo made a point of checking his watch, "Yeah, he's probably been at the airport for about half an hour already." Jesus-fuck! It would take him another twenty minutes or so to get out there depending on traffic! Why'd this guy gotta be so picky?! "Please excuse me."

With that Duo made his way to the back and clocked out before running back through the store and out to his '67 Shelby Convertible before tearing out of the parking lot. He made good time to the airport and parked in the 'pick-up' lane before dialing Triton's number.

"Hello."

Duo winced at the cold dead tone, "Sorry I'm so late man and that I didn't think to call before driving like a bat-outta-hell to get here. Where're you at?"

The line went dead and Duo's face paled as he began to panic that this little hitch had cost him his friend's good graces. He flinched when soft chuckling met his ears and his head snapped to the passenger side of the car where his scared violet eyes crashed into Triton's twinkling green ones.

"Hey, this beauty unlocked?" Triton asked a smirk appearing on his face.

Duo's head thumped back into the headrest and he closed his eyes and simply tried to breathe, "Yeah."

The door opened and he could hear Triton tossing his duffel bag into the back before settling in his seat and closing the door again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out, but I figured since I was standing right there it'd be better to talk in person instead of over the phone."

Duo just shook his head slowly, "Man, I thought you were pissed at me or somethin'."

Triton snorted, "Why would I be mad just because you're a bit late? I knew you were at work after all. Things come up."

Duo peeked an eye open just in time to see Triton shrug his shoulders. He shook himself out of his stupor and pulled out of the pick-up lane. "So, you hungry?"

"Starving." Duo felt a shiver run down his spine at the tone and kept his eyes on the traffic around him so he wouldn't be tempted to do something stupid... like lean over and kiss the man beside him.

"What sounds good to eat? There are plenty of seafood restaurants, pizza joints, steak houses?" Duo offered up a few ideas.

He vaguely thought he heard the word 'you' before Triton cleared his throat and said that steak sounded good. They spoke of menial things throughout dinner and on the drive to Duo's apartment. Once they arrived, Duo parking his car in the apartment complex's parking garage, he grabbed out Triton's duffle before the other man could and grinned at him.

"Follow me!" Triton nodded his head and Duo lead the way to the elevator and they headed for the 5th floor. "Here we are." Duo announced as they came upon the third door to the left after exiting the elevator. He unlocked the door and gestured Triton inside before following him in. He slipped his shoes off, seeing that Triton was already doing the same. He had picked the habit up from the chestnut haired clown after all. "The bedrooms are back this way."

He lead Triton across his living area and down a short hallway with four doors branching off of it and turned into the first door on the right. "This is the guest room." He placed Triton's duffel bag on the bed a little forlornly as he would much rather have the tall acrobat share his own bed, but that wasn't likely to ever happen.

"This place is really nice Duo." Triton's words had him turning to look at him and seeing the happy/excited expression on his friend's face.

Duo smiled at him, "I'm glad you think so. I certainly like it." He waved for his friend to follow and headed back into the hallway and pointed to the next door down on the right, "That's a linen closet. If you need more blankets or towels they'll be in there. The bathroom is the door across from it, and this one," He rapped his knuckles on his open doorway, "Is my room. Then of course," He gestured back out of the hallway, "There's the living area and kitchen. It's not super big or anything, but..."

"It suits you. It's big enough that you feel like you aren't being strangled to death and small enough that you can feel safe." The fact that Triton understood him so well had butterflies swarming his stomach. "I see those speakers are still woefully misplaced."

Duo chuckled, "Yeah, little bit. But we can worry about that tomorrow, I'm sure you're tired. That's one long ass flight."

Triton nodded his head, "Yeah it is, but I don't really want to sleep yet, if that's okay with you."

"That's fine, wanna watch a movie or something?"

"Sure." Triton headed back into the guest room while Duo turned on his television and a gaming system before opening one of the cupboards on the entertainment center to reveal his rather large collection of movies. Triton came back in a pair of blue plaid flannel pants and a white threadbare t-shirt and sprawled himself across Duo's sofa.

Seeing the sight almost had Duo drooling but he gamely kept his saliva to himself as he asked, "What would you like to watch?"

Triton picked an old action movie and Duo set it up before heading to his room to get into his own pajamas, basically a mirror of what Triton was wearing, only purple. He settled on the sofa, lifting Triton's legs up and resting them back over his own as he sat down. Halfway through the movie Triton fell asleep and Duo simply watched him for the remainder of it. Once it was over he gently shook his adorable friend awake and told him to go to bed. Then he put everything away, locked up and headed to bed himself.

He woke the next morning to the smell of warm chocolate and bacon, he didn't bother trying to tame his rioting hair at all as he followed the smell to his kitchen, the thick sable strands fluttering around his hips as he moved into the room. He didn't mind at all that Triton had helped himself to his kitchen, "How long you been up?"

Triton turned from the stove and stared momentarily before speaking his voice slightly rough, "Not all that long. I'm making chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. There's also hot water going for either tea or cocoa."

"Man after my own heart." Duo slumped into a chair at his small dining table and watched Triton cook, noting the smirk and small shake of the head that accompanied his ebullition. Duo wasn't much of a morning person and usually had to fight with himself to get up for work and previously for classes. With his head resting on the table and his eyes glued to a certain backside he almost didn't hear his alarm going off. Unfortunately the sound penetrated his lethargy and he rose slowly from his chair to go turn it off and get dressed. He was pretty sure breakfast would be ready by the time he was done.

When he came back out, dressed for work, his hair braided, and slightly more awake, he found Triton sitting at his table with a tea cup to his lips like he was trying to hide the smile Duo could see there. "I take it you have to go to work today?"

Duo's hand went to the back of his head in a nervous gesture, "Yeah, sorry. Though you could come if you wanted. Maybe not stay at the office, but you could look around the area if you wanted. I've only got one project to work on, the one that made me late getting you yesterday."

Triton smiled at him as he sat down, "Well then, eat your breakfast and let's go trounce some picky person's ideals on landscaping."

Duo grinned, "I love you man."

"I know." Was the soft reply.

They ate quietly after that and Duo waited as Triton changed out of his pajamas and into 'honeybuns kicking' clothes. Then they headed for Remade. Duo groaned loudly as he saw that Mr. Carter was already there. Triton chuckled and patted his knee before they exited the car.

Duo walked up to the front door of the shop watching as Mr. Carter saw him through the floor to ceiling windows of the front room and stood to meet him. He opened the door and waited for Triton to enter before following suit. "Tri, you can wait out here or come back with us, if it's alright with the client. Or you can go wander around for a while. I'll call you when I'm finished?"

"I'll stick around, I'd like to see what you do if that's okay?"

Duo nodded his head and turned to Mr. Carter. "Mr. Carter, good morning. Shall we see if we can't finally agree on a good plan for your yard?"

The man nodded his head enthusiastically and even agreed that it was alright if Triton went with them, Duo explaining that he was an old friend in town for a visit. It took them three hours and Triton finally getting fed up with the man and telling him that all the things he wanted done with his yard weren't even possible because it wasn't big enough before the man agreed with anything. The fact that Duo had made a plan with ALL of it in it and the yard still being usable finally seemed good enough after the reaming Triton gave him and so they scheduled a day for some of the landscapers to go out and transform the man's yard.

"Alright," Duo sighed as Mr. Carter finally left the building, "What would you like to do now?" Duo looked over and found Triton staring at him intently, the heat he saw there nearly enough to make him melt. Trying to sound kidding but sounding more nervous than anything else he asked, "There something on my face?"

Triton seemed to come out of some kind of daze as he realized Duo had caught him staring at him. A light blush painted his cheeks as he shook his head, "Sorry, was thinking about something. What did you say?"

"And people call 'me' scatterbrained." Duo chuckled and stood from his chair and stretched, "I asked you what you'd like to do now?"

Triton mumbled something before shrugging his shoulders, "I don't really know what there is to do here. We could always go hang up your speakers."

Duo grinned, "Nah, let's head over to that performance park I was telling you about. Then we can get something for lunch and head back to hang those speakers afterwards. How's that sound?"

Triton smiled at him, "Sounds good."

They headed back out to the convertible and mosied their way over to the performance park where they found a couple of local bands having some kind of 'battle of the bands'/ 'dance-off' competition for applause. With identical smirks the two men took to the stage where random people were having their little dance-off and proceeded to blow everyone away. With Triton's acrobatic background and Duo having had to learn to shimmy and shake his way out of trouble back on L2 there was no way they'd lose. Especially when one of the bands decided to play "Hippy Hippy Shake", it was one of Duo's favorite oldies.

A couple of hours later, tired, slightly sore, and a lot sweaty both men stumbled their way into a small cafe for lunch. Ordering sandwiches and iced teas before finally falling into chairs at a window table. They caught each other's gaze and grinned before full on laughter took them over.

"Geez, when was the last time we did something like that?" Duo asked.

"I honestly can't remember. Probably sometime close to the Eve War though. It's been a long damn time since we could just have fun." Triton placed his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together before resting his chin on them, it was a pretty endearing pose in Duo's point of view.

"You've got a point there." Their food arrived and they ate in companionable silence only interrupted by random people coming in, after seeing them in the window, and telling them how awesome they had been at the park.

Finally finished with their food they headed back to Duo's apartment and took turns in the shower before finally getting those surround sound speakers set up. After that they watched a movie, commenting on the noticeable difference in sound from the night before.

Duo spent a few days showing Triton around Astoria before the man had to head back to Sanq and being a Preventer.

Several months later Duo was desperate to see the man again. He'd tried to get time off so that he could visit Sanq, but he honestly hadn't been working there long enough to have the amount of time it would take to have a decent visit. And then Triton had been sent on some assignment where they weren't able to talk at all. He'd been gone for three months already and honestly Duo was a bit worried, but WuFei kept him updated that Triton was fine and he knew the Chinese man wouldn't lie to him about it.

In a fit of temper - and also kind of on purpose so that his carpentry inclined friend would have a more valid reason to visit than "I want to see you." Duo smashed in the side of his entertainment center. It was really the entertainment center's fault too, it kept teasing him with images of him pushing Triton up against it and ravishing him... or vice versa, either way was torture to his already stressed mind. Especially when he knew that neither scenario was ever going to happen.

Worried for his friend and disappointed that he had just damaged something so useful and pretty Duo dropped to his sofa and covered his face with his hands. "What the fuck am I doing? It's just a crush. Why am I freaking out so badly?"

With a long-suffering sigh he fished his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Triton's number. He listened as it went through Triton's introduction to his voicemail and then left a message, "Hey Tri it's me. I was wondering if, when you've got the time and inclination, if you could come over. I seem to have busted my entertainment center pretty good and I'm really not sure how to go about fixin' it. Let me know alright?"

Six days later he was roused from his nap on the sofa by knocking at his door. Confused as no one he knew even lived in the area besides his co-workers and clients, he rose slowly to his feet and went to answer it. He'd been in a rather morose state for the last few days as WuFei hadn't been able to confirm or deny that Triton was okay, his boss had forced him to take the rest of the week off because he simply couldn't focus. Reaching the door he straightened up and plastered a smile across his face before opening the door, not bothering to check who was outside it first.

"You look like shit."

Duo blinked, "Triton?"

"Pretty sure I'm the only person who looks like me that knows where you live?" It seemed to be more of a question than a statement, like Triton was hoping that was true but would try really hard not to be jealous if it weren't.

Duo didn't want to think about what that could mean right now, his brain really needed to stop supplying him with ideas like that. "... Did you get my message?"

"Yes, that's actually why I'm here. I just flew in from L3, told Une she could read my report, that I wasn't in a fit enough state for one of her damn 'debriefings' aka 'interrogation sessions' and that I was coming the States first instead of Sanq. I'd meant to call you first, but kept falling asleep every chance I got and ending up not having time where I had service. Should I leave?"

"Christ, no! Come on in." Duo finally took in the disheveled state of his friend and gestured him through the doorway. "Make yourself at home man." He watched as Triton sat down to remove his combat boots and then head for the sofa.

"Shit. You weren't kidding. How'd this even happen?" Triton was staring at the rather worse for wear entertainment center. And while Duo knew EXACTLY what, how, and why it had ended up like that, he sure as hell wasn't going to tell Triton.

"I'm not really sure, but my hands were pretty banged up for a while." They were in fact still a bit bruised from it. Triton turned and gave him a look that had Duo's chin hitting his chest, "I guess I was drunk..."

"You got drunk and picked a fight with your entertainment center." Triton's voice was highly unamused. "I thought you stopped drinking like that."

"I had." Duo defended himself, after the last time where he'd nearly drown himself in the ocean he'd sworn off getting drunk at all. He would drink, but generally only one of whatever it was he was having that night.

Triton frowned at him before understanding lit his green eyes, "You were worried about me."

"Well, yeah. But I always worry about you guys when you go on no-contact missions."

"Yeah, but this was different." Triton's voice compelled Duo to answer him honestly.

"Yes, though I still haven't figured out why." Duo's grumbled reply had Triton chuckling.

"Well maybe it was because I nearly got myself killed this time."

Duo's head snapped up, "What?"

Triton carefully removed his jean jacket and showed Duo the bandages on his left forearm and across most of his chest. "I ended up up against someone who had more ammo than me. When I ran out, I rushed him. Was able to take his snide ass in, but... I've been in the hospital for the last month."

Duo's eyes narrowed, "WuFei said you were fine until a few days ago when he kept telling me he didn't know one way or the other. I'm gonna kill him."

"Oh come on Duo, it's not that bad. I'm here aren't I?" Triton held out his arms, though it was obvious it was painful to do.

Duo shook his head and closed the distance between them, gently lowering Triton's arms before wrapping him in a gentle hug. "Yeah, I guess that's good enough."

Triton barked out a laugh before returning to the issue of the entertainment center, "I won't be able to physically help you fix it, but I can talk you through it if you're up for it."

Duo stepped back and nodded, "That'd be great! But let's wait until tomorrow, you look like you're about to pass out."

"Yeah? Well, so do you."

Duo chuckled at the lame come back and led Triton to the guest room, having him sit at the desk while he got everything needed and made up the bed. "Feel free to take a shower before you sleep if you'd like."

Triton nodded and rose slowly before heading for the bathroom, a few moments later Duo heard his name being called and left his own bed to answer. He found Triton soaking in his tub, "What can I do for ya hot stuff?"

A smile graced Triton's face as he looked up at Duo, "I left my duffel bag by the front door..."

"Heh, you dork. I'll bring it in for ya."

"Thank you."

Duo left the gorgeous sight of a very naked, very wet Triton and headed for his front door. He found Triton's duffel bag and hefted it, it was rather lighter than when the man had come to visit him last time. Duo figured it needed to be while he was on a mission, he wouldn't need more than one or two changes of clothes no matter how long said mission took. Duo knew the drill after all. He'd been a Preventer for two years before deciding to go to college instead. He brought the bag back to the bathroom and set it on the floor next to the counter.

"Thank you, again."

"Not a problem. While I'm thinking about it, are you hungry at all?" Duo asked as he tried really hard not to stare. He was attempting to convince himself that Triton would think he was only checking over his wounds, but then his body began to betray him...

"I don't know, I'm more tired than anything else at the moment. Besides if you'd like to sleep I can always make myself something." Was it just his imagination or was Triton's voice an octave lower?

Duo nodded, "Sure thing. 'Night."

Duo fled the room as Triton told him goodnight and headed for the kitchen. There was no way he was making someone who was injured cook for themselves. He made up sandwiches, taking two for himself as he went back to his bed, he'd been hungry too after all.

He couldn't sleep however and listened as Triton left the bathroom and entered the room across the hall from his own. He hoped the other man could get to sleep. As he heard the door close he pulled out his favorite toy and a bottle of lube and did his best to tire himself enough to sleep. He couldn't help the moans that left his throat or the quiet whimpers of a certain someone's name, but he tried his best to be as silent as possible in order not to wake the ex-Merc in the other room.

Tired, sweaty, and not nearly as satisfied as he would have liked Duo cleaned himself up just in time to hear Triton moving about in his kitchen. Duo closed his eyes, "Fuck, I hope I didn't wake him."

He quickly made his way to the bathroom and took a quick shower to rinse off all the sweat, cum, and lube, then headed out to the kitchen with a towel wrapped around the end of his hair so it wouldn't drip all over the place. Triton looked up at him and gave him a small smile before going back to whatever he was doing.

"What'cha doin'?" Duo asked as he pulled down a giant bag of Tootsie Rolls and grabbed out a handful, he'd have to remember to brush his teeth before heading back to bed.

"Making hot chocolate. You want some?"

"What I want isn't food." Duo mumbled with a mouth full of candy. He chewed and swallowed before actually answering, "No thanks. I think the hot shower finally helped. Could you not sleep either?"

Triton nodded his head, "Yeah, I've just been laying there staring at the ceiling since I got out of the bath. Figured some hot chocolate might help. And food couldn't hurt either." His green eyes located the plate with a couple of the sandwiches Duo had made earlier on it sitting on the table.

"I hope it does, it always helped you during the wars." Duo munched on another Tootsie Roll as he recalled several times when he'd found the weirdly banged teen up at odd hours making hot chocolate because he couldn't sleep.

"So it did. And usually still does." Triton poured the milk he had heating on the stove into a mug that he had previously added chocolate syrup to and stirred it with a spoon. He rinsed out the pot but left it in the sink before coming to sit at the table.

"You don't need any painkiller or anything do you?" Duo hadn't missed the seriousness of the wounds Triton had attained even if the man's bared skin had been a major turn on.

Triton shook his head, "No, it's not the wounds that kept me awake. I've just been so stressed lately that suddenly not having anything happening is a little weird."

Duo tilted his head to the side, "Would it help if you had music or something?"

Triton's brows rose and he frowned in thought, "That might help actually."

Duo grinned and finished off the rest of his candy, "I'll get you a radio then. You drink your hot chocolate and eat."

Triton simply nodded and raised the mug to his lips. Duo bounced from his chair, remembering to take the towel with him, and headed for his bedroom. He dried his hair as best he could and then pulled an old radio, that Triton had repaired and given him as a birthday gift several years before, down from his dresser. He headed across the hall and set it up on the dresser beside Triton's wallet and phone, turning it to a station he hoped the other man would enjoy.

"All set up." Duo told him as he came out of the room and watched Triton rinse off his dishes.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Have a good sleep."

Triton grinned at him, "Goodnight Duo."

The next morning Duo woke early in order to make breakfast for his injured friend. Leaving his room he paused outside the guest room for a moment listening, hearing nothing but steady breathing he smiled and continued his trek to the kitchen. He made up omelettes, waffles, and bacon; then set out two glasses, jam, and peanut butter on his table. As had happened the last time Triton was there the smell of food cooking brought the sleeper out to the kitchen, though this time their roles were swapped.

"What're you makin'?" Triton's sleepy voice rumbled from between his crossed arms after he sat down at the table and rested his head in their cradle.

Duo chuckled, "Omelettes, waffles and bacon. You want milk to drink or juice?"

"Milk's fine."

Duo nodded his head as he removed the last piece of bacon from the skillet and placed it with the rest. He moved the plate of bacon and the plate of waffles to the center of his table and then placed a plate with an omelet on it in front of Triton and another at his own seat. He poured them both glasses of milk and then sat down, forking over a couple of waffles before smearing them with peanut butter. He snagged several slices of bacon and began eating as he watched Triton carefully fill every divot on his waffles with jam.

They ate in silence both of them a little too groggy to make any kind of decent conversation. Once they were finished Duo collected the dishes and washed them all while Triton got dressed and examined the entertainment center with a measuring tape to figure out how best to fix it. Duo went and got dressed for the day himself before joining his friend in front of his latest catastrophe.

"We'll need to go into town and buy new wood to fix this, nails, maybe some wood glue. Unless you've got some of that already?" Triton turned to look at him.

"I should have wood glue and nails somewhere. Probably in a box in the closet, I'll go check." Duo headed back to his room and opened the walk-in closet before ducking inside and rustling through a few boxes before finding the one he wanted. He pulled it out into the bedroom and rummaged through it finding a bottle of wood glue and exactly five nails of varying lengths. With a roll of his eyes he brought the glue and nails out and placed them on the coffee table before his entertainment center. "We'll need more nails, but I've got enough wood glue."

Triton nodded, a smirk on his face at the different nails. "Well, I'm ready when you are."

Duo smiled at him and headed back to his bedroom to grab his wallet and keys. "Let's move out."

They put their shoes on and headed down to Duo's Shelby before locating the nearest hardwood store. They spent several hours going over different types of wood trying to find one that matched the thickness and lengths they would need to fix the entertainment center. They finally found one that Triton would allow to be used for repairs and had the different lengths he'd measured out and written on his ever present notepad cut out and put into the car. By then Duo was starving!

"How's fast food sound?" He was craving french fries!

Triton looked over at him a tired but happy expression on his face, "Sounds like heaven. Micky D's?"

"You know it." Duo chirped before pulling into the drive-thru. He ordered himself a couple of big mac's and a large sweet tea no ice and a large fry before turning to get Triton's order. After placing an order for the twenty piece chicken nugget and a large lemonade they coasted their way through the line, paying and then obtaining their food. Duo munched on french fries all the way home, Triton holding them up to his mouth so that he wouldn't have to take his focus off of the road.

Once back at the apartment they quickly ate their lunches before setting to work on the entertainment center. It took several hours, mostly because Duo wasn't really much of a carpenter and cutting off the parts he'd broken was more complicated than he'd thought it would be. He had to be careful not to ruin any more of it while he took the broken bits off and replaced them with new wood. He was actually surprised that the wood they'd bought was the same type as the original and wondered if that was what had taken Triton so long in picking it out.

Finally done Duo joined Triton on his sofa, "Well, that oughta teach me not to mess with my entertainment center."

Triton chuckled, "I would hope so. It's never as much fun to fix a mess as to create one."

"It sure ain't."


	2. Triton's POV

Triton got off of work a little later than usual, pushing papers was boring so he was generally slow at it. He was stuck doing it at headquarters however after his most recent mission had landed him in the hot seat with Une. She didn't really like it when people disobeyed orders... which he tended to do frequently when it meant a less bloody resolution to the current problem. She never let him forget about his little smuggling ring coup and it had been years since then. Though he supposed it didn't help any that he was constantly doing similar things.

He had just pulled up in front of his favorite 'I hate my life right now' restaurant when his phone rang causing vibrations to skitter across his thigh where his pocket was located. The specific tune that began playing made him smile and he fished it out and answered it.

"Hey Duo! How's your new place?" Triton was curious about it after the message Duo had left him a couple of days ago about finally settling on an apartment.

The warm, amused chuckle he got sent goosebumps across his skin, "It's great. Relena helped me pick it out and Heero's been helping me move in and arrange everything."

A frown pulled at his lips as he was reminded that he couldn't be there to help his friend move in, slightly jealous of Heero and Relena for getting to see Duo, but he could mope about it later. "Heh, they going to that restaurant 'Lena's been goin' on about for ages now?"

"I think so. Today is their anniversary after all. I doubt they'd be going anywhere else. I honestly think Relena insisted on helping me look for a place just so they'd be here for it so that she could go to that damn restaurant." Duo's laughter made him grin in response.

"Most likely." Triton wouldn't put it past Missus Relena Darlian-Peacecraft-Yuy to conspire the excuse of already being in the area to get what she wanted. He shook his head slightly and was about to ask Duo if he'd ever been to the restaurant in question himself when Duo spoke again.

"I bought that entertainment center you suggested."

Surprised as it was rather expensive and Duo had just gotten his apartment a few days ago Triton had to wonder why the man had gotten it at all. "Oh? How do you like it?"

"It looks good, certainly better than having everything laid out on the floor." Triton chuckled, he could clearly picture all of Duo's electronics splayed out on the floor with the giant television situated in the center and that damned clock on the wall above it. That set up in his college dorm had been why Triton suggested the entertainment center to the man in the first place. It was all well and good to leave things on the floor during college... but actually having your own place? Triton felt it was better to have such easily breakable things where they couldn't be stepped on and kicked... or rolled over during tickle fights... or perhaps other more fun activities that he would thoroughly enjoy doing with Duo.

"I was actually wondering when the next time you had time off was." Triton's thoughts screeched to a halt as Duo's voice filtered across the line again. "And if you aren't already planning on spending it doing something with Cathy. I'd like for you to see the place, and maybe help me hang up these speakers? It's the only part I can't really do by myself, and Heero and Relena will be sightseeing for the rest of their time here until Friday afternoon when I'm required to have dinner with them."

Triton froze for a moment as he thought quickly. He knew he didn't have any Circus work for another month or so since the Circus was currently out at L3 and not due back for a while. He was currently just confined to a desk, he was sure Une would let him go bug Duo for a week or so. But he would have to get all the filing and whatnot he'd been tasked with already done first. His voice was warm with wanting as he answered, "I'd love to come out there and see it. And helping you hang up the speakers would be no problem at all. I've got some time off lined up in a couple of weeks," Currently a lie... but what Duo didn't know wouldn't hurt him. He'd have the time off by then. "You think you can handle those precious speakers not being in their proper places that long?"

Duo sounded downright chipper as he answered, "Of course! I'll be waitin' for ya!"

It made Triton smile some more and sent his mind to a place it shouldn't be going while seated in his truck outside of a restaurant. "Alright, I'll see you then. For now I've got to get dinner and some sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Call me any time Tri, I'll always answer." The sincerity in Duo's voice had Triton's breath catching. What he wouldn't give to take full advantage of that offer. To just be around Duo all the time... his need for the man was so great in that moment he had to close his eyes and remind himself that it was never going to happen, that Duo only wanted to be friends.

It was difficult to keep the pain from his voice and he barely succeeded, his voice softer than intended. "Goodnight Duo."

"Good night Triton." He was glad Duo simply repeated him instead of asking if something was wrong. Triton might have fallen apart and confessed if that had happened. He shook his head and headed into the diner to order his favorite to-go food, adding a chocolate milkshake to the mix because now he had a powerful need for chocolate.

He made the short drive home from the restaurant and walked up the three flights of stairs to his mediocre apartment. He untangled his house key from the keychains and Swiss Army Knife on his truck keys and unlocked the door. He flicked the switch next to the frame and stepped inside. He put his to-go boxes down after he closed the door and took his Preventer issue loafers off his feet before taking up his food again. He followed the single dim light in the center of his living area/kitchenette to the small table he ate at and placed the food upon it. Then, with a shake of his head at his slowness, he went back across the space and locked his door, put his keys on the table which his shoes were under and then moved back to finally eat.

Waking the next morning he was far more energetic than he'd been the day before. He quickly showered, shaved, and pulled on a fresh uniform. He actually ate breakfast, something he generally slid over unless there was someone there to make him eat it (like Quatre)... or someone there to eat with (generally Duo). Then he drove to work, actually following the speed limit signs and not speeding around corners as he usually did. He quickly parked his truck and practically ran up the stairs to Une's office, foregoing the elevator as he felt it would take too long. He slowed as he neared her door and knocked as he came to it, stopping to wait for an invitation.

"Come in Mr. Bloom." Triton cringed, it seemed she was still upset over his last escapade even though it had been two weeks since he returned and was placed on desk duty. He sighed, it couldn't be helped, teaching a bunch of ten year olds how to hotwire cars so that they could get to and from school safely every day was a bit frowned upon... as the legal driving age on L2 was sixteen and hotwiring cars was kind of illegal.

"Commander." Triton moved into the room and stood behind the chair before Une's desk with his hands clasped in front of him.

"Is there something I can do for you Bloom?" Her disdainfully raised eyebrow gave him little hope that he would actually get his request.

"I would like to take a week off to visit Duo and help him finish setting up his new place. I can get everything I'm currently required to do done in about two weeks." He held his breath, knowing that Une could fill in the blanks.

Une's head bowed and her elbows hit her desk as her fingers began to massage her temples, she heaved a giant sigh and didn't bother looking back up at him. "Alright. Honestly anything to get you out of my hair for a while. You'll be meeting up with the circus for a month or so after that will you not?"

"Yes, Cathy said they'd be back in a little over a month."

"Thank god." Triton winced, "Go do your work Bloom, if you're actually done by the time you want to be you can have the time off."

"Thank you Commander." Triton made haste back to his and Duo's old office... just his now... a frown pulled at his face as he sat behind his desk and set to work.

When the time finally came for him to depart to see Duo he had done even more work than he'd had originally, but it was all worth it since he'd be getting to see Duo. He slept for most of his flight from Sanc to New York, but was too wired to sleep on the plane from New York to Astoria. So... when he landed, had gathered his baggage and decided to wait outside in the nice sunny weather when Duo wasn't immediately present... he began to worry a bit.

He knew a lack of sleep had nothing to do with the twisting sensation in his stomach and had to keep reminding himself that Duo had had to go into work that day and could have gotten hung up on something there. Or traffic could be hell, it wasn't like he knew what life was like here after all. But most importantly, Duo hadn't forgotten about him.

When he saw Duo's signature oldie pull up to the curb he let out a sigh of relief and began moving toward it, a few seconds later his phone rang. Without thinking about how his suddenly relieved stress would sound he answered it as he moved over to the convertible, "Hello."

He saw Duo wince and rolled his eyes, listening to him babble quickly in stereo before hanging up his phone. The panic that flashed across Duo's face however had him chuckling, it appeared that Duo thought he was angry for some reason.

"Hey, this beauty unlocked?" He smirked at his friend and watched as the panic fled.

"Yeah."

Smirk still firmly in place Triton tossed his duffel bag in the back seat and plopped down into the front passenger seat and got buckled. He turned to look at Duo's sagging profile, glad the other man's eyes were closed as he hungrily memorized his features. "Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out, but I figured since I was standing right there it'd be better to talk in person instead of over the phone."

Duo's head shook slowly from side to side against the headrest like he was still trying to come to terms with his recent heart-attack. His eyes were still closed and his grip on the steering wheel still white-knuckled. "Man, I thought you were pissed at me or somethin'."

Triton snorted, as if he could be. "Why would I be mad just because you're a bit late? I knew you were at work after all. Things come up."

He shrugged his shoulders as if to say it was whatever, noting that Duo had finally peeked those lovely violet eyes open to look at him. Triton watched as Duo literally shook himself before pulling away from the airport. "So, you hungry?"

The question was so unexpected that Triton couldn't keep his initial reaction to the words from spilling into his immediate answer, "Starving." The things he would like to do with that braid and the body it was currently draped over. His own hair was rustling in the breeze created by the motion of the car as Duo had the top down. He could think of a million things he would like to 'eat' right there in that car... and none of them were nutritional. The shiver he watched run through Duo wasn't at all helping his libido.

"What sounds good to eat?" Duo's voice sounded a little breathless and it took effort for Triton to concentrate on his words. "There are plenty of seafood restaurants, pizza joints, steak houses?"

Triton nearly groaned from the pure torture his mind conjured up at the mention of foods with sauces he could use for other things. What he really wanted was Duo and muttered to himself, "I want you." But then voiced louder, "Steak sounds good." He knew if he didn't pick an option his mind was never going to shut up and let him enjoy simply being with Duo.

The steak house they went to was surprisingly good, and while he was sorely tempted to smear barbecue sauce on Duo's neck and nibble it off again, he refrained and was even able to hold a decent conversation. Though that might have been because all of the topics were their friends, how things were going with work, what the Circus was up to... you know, things that weren't the least bit kinky and were in fact huge turn-offs.

The drive to Duo's apartment complex consisted of Triton asking questions about the different place they passed by and Duo gushing about how great it was to live there. When they arrived Triton was surprised to note that it had it's own parking garage, but realized that with Duo's antique car it was something he would have looked for in a place. Duo put the top up and hopped out, getting to Triton's duffel bag before he had a chance and locking the car doors on his side. Triton locked the two on his own shaking his head at Duo's cheeky grin.

"Follow me!" Triton nodded and refrained from saying 'anywhere' as Duo led him to the elevator and they headed to his apartment. He spent the unfortunately short walk to the man's door staring at his ass and the sway of his braid as it skimmed over it. "Here we are."

Triton's head jerked up as Duo unlocked the door and he really, really seriously hoped that Duo hadn't seen him staring at his ass. He would die. He fought down a blush and moved into the space Duo was gesturing him into. He took off his tennis shoes and placed them against the wall inside the doorway and turned back around to see Duo taking his own shoes off.

"The bedrooms are back this way." Oh god, yes please! Triton closed his eyes, his hands fisting at his sides as he fought with himself not to reach out and grab Duo to him. When he had control of himself Duo was already heading into a small hallway. Triton stretched his stride to catch up with him at the first set of doors. "This is the guest room."

Duo placed his duffel on the blue comforter and all Triton could think was that the room was 'his' not a guest room, 'his' room. The possessiveness would have surprised him if he wasn't already used to it. To distract himself he glanced around, back out the hallway to the living area and then around the room he would be staying in. "This place is really nice Duo."

Duo turned and smiled at him and his breath stuttered in his lungs, "I'm glad you think so. I certainly like it." Duo moved past him back into the hallway and Triton took a deep breath to try and settle himself. Duo pointed to the different doors explaining what they were, "That's a linen closet. If you need more blankets or towels they'll be in there. The bathroom is the door across from it, and this one is my room." Him rapping his knuckles on his own bedrooms' door frame drew Triton's gaze inside the space.

It was perfectly Duo, painted up in shades of purple and blue, the comforter a soft moss green. Triton really wanted to sleep in there with him, but he moved his eyes back to Duo as he continued, "Then of course, there's the living area and kitchen. It's not super big or anything, but..."

Triton interrupted his explanation as Duo began to sound like he was worried Triton wouldn't approve, "It suits you." The startled look faded into a smile, "It's big enough that you feel like you aren't being strangled to death and small enough that you can feel safe." Triton's own place was the same way. He moved into the living area and noted the entertainment center and the speakers that were resting on it. "I see those speakers are still woefully misplaced."

Duo chuckled and it did strange things to his insides, "Yeah, little bit. But we can worry about that tomorrow, I'm sure you're tired. That's one long ass flight."

Nodding Triton smiled at him, "Yeah it is, but I don't really want to sleep yet, if that's okay with you." He was kind of afraid to attempt sleeping just yet with how turned on he was.

"That's fine, wanna watch a movie or something." Duo's innocence would kill him someday he was sure of it.

"Sure." The 'or something' would be preferable, but he headed back to his room and changed into his pajamas. He came back out to find Duo ducking down to look at movie titles and settled himself on the sofa in order to better enjoy the view.

Duo turned to look at him and Triton had to swallow hard at the look he thought he saw in those beautiful eyes and resist the urge to ask the man to join him...for something a little different than the movie he seemed to have planned. "What would you like to watch?"

Fuck, really? Obviously I'd like to watch you - naked and writhing around me. He took a deep breath and looked away from temptation and toward the movies. He rattled off the first title he saw and watched as Duo put it in and then headed back to his own room as the commercials played. When he returned and came to sit on the sofa Triton was honestly afraid to move himself out of the way, terrified that he would grab Duo and do something stupid to satisfy his craving and ruin their friendship. Though he had no problems with Duo lifting his legs and resting them across his lap, he'd expected him to drop his feet to the floor.

With Duo unconsciously massaging his legs as the movie played Triton soon passed out. He woke to Duo shaking him and then shoving him towards his room and telling him to sleep. Bleary eyed he did as he was told. Upon waking up in the wane morning light he shook his head at himself, it had been nice to just relax but he had to remember that those moments weren't something he could have indefinitely.

He slid from the covers and made a stop in the bathroom before heading to the kitchen and finding where everything was as quietly as possible. Smiling at how comfortable it felt to be in Duo's home he began making breakfast. The fact that Duo had all the ingredients for Triton's, and because of the two of them WuFei's, favorite breakfast food wasn't lost on him. Hearing movement as he was nearly finished he grinned and wondered if the smell of food was waking Duo before his alarm.

"How long you been up?"

The sleep roughened voice sent a shiver down his spine and he turned to answer, really he was going to... any moment now his response to the question would pop out of his mouth. Wait... what question? Fuck, what was he doing? The sight of Duo's long mussed unbraided hair flitting around his bare chest and lean purple encased hips had rendered him stupid for a few seconds, then the bacon popped on his arm and brought him back to reality. "Not all that long. I'm making chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. There's also hot water going for either tea or cocoa."

"Man after my own heart."

Triton smirked, he really had no idea. He listened as Duo sat in a chair and then a few moments later got up and headed back toward his room as his alarm went off, answering his previous thought about it. He finished cooking everything, plated it all and set the table. When Duo came back out he hid a smile behind his tea cup at the still-tired-but-ready-for-the-day-anyway look on his friend's face. "I take it you have to go to work today?"

When Duo's hand rose to the back of his head Triton knew he was about to say something wishy washy and guilt filled, "Yeah, sorry. Though you could come if you wanted. Maybe not stay at the office, but you could look around the area if you wanted. I've only got one project to work on, the one that made me late getting you yesterday."

Triton smiled at him as he sat down, shaking his head at the splurge of 'well you could this, or that, cause I doubt you want to spend time with me'. "Well then, eat your breakfast and let's go trounce some picky person's ideals on landscaping."

Triton would never not be proud of Duo for deciding to go to college and not be a Preventer to pay for it. That Duo had found something he loved and was willing to continue doing it with degrees that had nothing to do with it really was something Triton admired.

"I love you man." It was heartfelt, but Triton knew it was simply the kind of love everyone has for a good friend. It wasn't the kind of love he wanted from the man.

"I know." Yeah, he knew alright.

They ate their food in silence and Triton went to change his clothes after rinsing off the dishes, "If we're gonna go kick some honeybuns, I gotta put on some proper clothes."

Duo's laughter followed him into his room and he changed quickly, eager to see how Duo did his job. The drive there was quiet, the top on the car up even though it was nice out in an effort to keep Duo's flyaways in check. It was obvious when they parked that Duo was super annoyed with his client, and that said client was there already. Considering the place had only opened twenty minutes ago and Duo wasn't actually supposed to be there that day... Triton was annoyed too. He placed his hand on Duo's knee and squeezed, hoping to offer as much support as he could before they exited the car.

Triton followed Duo up to the door and went through it when Duo motioned him in. It was obvious who the client was as he was already hovering by the entrance before Duo made it inside. Did Triton mention he was annoyed?

"Tri, you can wait out here or come back with us, if it's alright with the client." Ooooh, not even giving the man standing right next to you a name, nice burn. "Or you can go wander around for a while. I'll call you when I'm finished?"

It seemed like there was a lot of hope riding on him NOT leaving, plus, he didn't fucking want to. "I'll stick around, I'd like to see what you do if that's okay?"

Duo nodded his head and turned to his client, "Mr. Carter, good morning. Shall we see if we can't finally agree on a good plan for you yard?"

Nodding his head Mr. Carter answered, "Yes, please."

"Would it be alright if my friend Triton comes back with us? He's here visiting and as he just said, would like to know what it is exactly that I do." Duo's professionalism had Triton's knees turning to jelly, just another facet of the man he wanted to explore in intimate detail.

"Of course! That's fine." Mr. Carter smiled at Triton and shook his hand before they all headed back to Duo's office.

Two hours of repeating the same shit over and over and Triton was done. "Mr. Carter. Maxwell has already made a plan for your yard that literally has everything in it that you want done. The fact that it leaves any yard left at all is a bloody miracle as your yard is far too small for all the stuff you want in it. Take it or leave it."

"I..." The man paused, looked from the rather irate looking Triton to the rather worse-for-wear looking Duo and nodded his head. "Okay, let's do that then."

Triton watched as Duo's hand twitched before he calmly lead the man through the paperwork to get people out there to fix his yard the way he wanted it. The sigh Duo heaved when the man left an hour later was warranted. And Triton couldn't help but stare at him with his now mussed hair from ramming his fingers into instead of the throat or eyes of Mr. Carter, and his whole sexy tired look.

"Alright, what would you like to do now?" Triton didn't hear him, busy imagining the many things he would like to do with Duo and his desk. "There something on my face?"

Triton snapped out of it and blushed when he saw Duo looking at him curiously, "Sorry, was thinking about something. What did you say?"

"And people call 'me' scatterbrained." Duo chuckled and stood up, Triton watched every individual muscle in his arms, shoulders, and neck stretch when he reached his arms over his head and had to swallow hard and look away. "I asked you what you'd like to do now?"

"You." Triton mumbled to himself before shrugging his shoulders and looking back up at Duo, "I don't really know what there is to do here. We could always go hang up your speakers." Or fall into your bed, shit I really need to stop.

Duo grinned at him and Triton was afraid the man had heard his thoughts, "Nah, let's head over to that performance park I was telling you about. Then we can get something for lunch and head back to hang those speakers afterwards. How's that sound?"

Like the perfect date, Triton smiled gamely. "Sounds good."

They went back to Duo's Shelby and he drove them to the park, this time with the top down and the radio on. When they arrived it was to two bands trying to out blast each other and some random people on an obvious dance floor seemingly having a dance competition. All for applause... so they decided to join in. He wasn't sure about Duo, but he himself was still rather flexible since he still did work for the Circus. However, he got his answer about how limber Duo was when one of the bands started playing one of his favorite songs. He had to step off the stage once Duo got started, he couldn't dance and stare at the same time after all.

Hours later when hunger called to them they made it to a small cafe and sat at a window seat. Well it was more like they wilted into their chairs after ordering, but same difference right? Looking over at Duo's sweaty panting face Triton had to grin, and when he caught Duo's gaze they both burst out laughing. Once they'd calmed down a bit Duo spoke, "Geez, when was the last time we did something like that?"

"I honestly can't remember." Oops, another lie. He could remember rather clearly the last time they'd danced and had fun like that. "Probably sometime close to the Eve War though." When Relena had gathered them all together and thrown the best party any of the pilots had ever been to and he'd realized he had more than just a crush on the mysterious pilot of a Gundam he'd destroyed. "It's been a long damn time since we could just have fun." Triton put his elbows on the table, laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them as he remembered asking Duo to dance with him. Even when the music hadn't been bouncy Duo hadn't moved away from him and they'd just swayed to it, he had been honestly surprised when Duo had accepted his hand and joined him on the dance floor. It had was his best memory and kept him going whenever he got into a tight spot during missions.

"You've got a point there." Duo's head tilted to the side and they just kind of stared at each other in exhausted happiness until their food arrived. Their meal was quiet, at least between the two of them, there were however several dozen people who stopped by their table to express their awe at how well the two of them could dance. The smirk that formed on Duo's face and the knowing look in those violet eyes let Triton know that another such dance-off would probably be in their future somewhere.

Back at Duo's apartment they showered before finally hanging up those speakers, "Where exactly do you want them?"

Duo turned from unplugging them and pointed to spots up on the walls of his living area, "Do you think that will work?"

Triton nodded, "Yeah should be fine, you've got a stepladder right?"

Duo nodded, "Yep, it's in the coat closet by the front door."

Triton left him to finish getting the speakers ready to move and pulled out the stepladder and placed it near the wall to the first spot Duo had pointed out. "Bring me a speaker 'O Short One'."

"Hey now! There's no reason to be an ass." Duo chuckled up at him but brought him a speaker to hang on the wall. They did the same routine with the other speakers, Triton hanging them up because he could reach where Duo wanted them and Duo couldn't, he literally wasn't tall enough.

Finished setting everything up and hooking it all back together they watched another movie, this time with the surround sound... and Triton not falling asleep. Triton spent the next three days sight-seeing with Duo around Astoria and the surrounding area, getting to know how Duo did his job and the different kinds of landscaping designs that worked for different types of yards. He decided that if he ever got a house of his own he'd have Duo plan out the yard or yards.

Then it was back to work, first at the Circus for a month while they toured around Europe. He was proud of Cathy for getting better at aiming her knives, and their trapeze act awed crowd after crowd, his act with the lion had children constantly screaming and a smile plastered to his face under is frowning make-up. But after that it was back to Sanc and the Preventers. Upon his return Une was in a much better mood and had an assignment that apparently only he could accomplish.

So after a month of gathering intel on L3 a place where he had to yet again cut his bang off so he wouldn't be recognized in his home cluster, he finally had what he needed to make the arrest he was sent there to make. The local Preventers and Colony Security teams simply hadn't been able to catch the prick, so now it was Triton's turn.

He infiltrated the man's business, starting out as a low level clerk and quickly rising in the ranks until he was up for promotion to supervisor in one of the man's many warehouses before he had all the information he needed. Not every warehouse was home to the idiots illegal weapons smuggling, but the one he was assigned (because he was a 'hardass') was one. It had made Triton's life SO much easier to be assigned by the enemy the very target he was after. Now he could take the man out and talk to Duo. Not being able to communicate with his braided friend for long periods of time tended to make him trigger happy and sullen. He was sure a lot of that attitude is what had gotten him the 'hardass' address.

But when he finally put on his Preventer uniform and came after the guy it hadn't gone as simply as he'd hoped. Triton hadn't expected the man to be packing as many weapons and as much ammunition as he had been. It had been on par with the max amount Triton was allowed to carry as a Preventer... quite a bit less than he would have had had he been under his own governance. But he'd always been about the flashy bullet spreads, even if he'd never really wasted a round per se. Sometimes he really missed Heavyarms.

Like when he had gone after this asshole and had run out of bullets before the enemy. He'd rushed the man, which apparently startled his prey or Triton was sure he'd be dead and not simply holed up in a hospital on L3 with the man behind bars in the local Preventers' prison.

He spent a month regaining blood and the use of his left arm from the massive damage he'd taken. Explosive rounds... the fucking dick. But that was precisely why he'd been noticed. Something so dangerous suddenly flooding the 'black market' was bound to get noticed. Triton was glad that the manufacturing plant for the ammo was now under Preventer control, and from WuFei's report, being dismantled.

Triton woke from a drug induced sleep because he could have sworn he heard Duo's ringtone. He knew that Duo wouldn't contact him while he knew he was on a mission unless it were super important, so his mind dismissed it when he didn't hear 'Walk this Way' anymore, thinking it was just wishful thinking on his part.

He woke normally a few hours later and checked his phone for any messages from HQ and saw that he did in fact have a voice message from Duo. Quickly pressing play he held his phone to his ear, "Hey Tri, it's me. I was wondering if, when you've got the time and inclination, if you could come over. I seem to have busted my entertainment center pretty good and I'm really not sure how to go about fixin' it. Let me know alright?"

Triton closed his eyes and let Duo's voice wash over him fourteen more times before he hollered for the doctor and argued with him for three hours before the doctor caved and said they could release him in three days.

/Three days after his release from the hospital he was walking up to Duo's door after an argument (that he won) with the cab driver about how much coming there from the airport cost. His nerves were all hyped up in his excitement to see Duo and even though he'd been told by the doctors to take it easy for another couple of months so his body could heal he felt like he was going to fly apart as he knocked on the door.

It took a few moments for Duo to open said door and Triton almost walked away thinking the man wasn't home. But then the door opened and a rather bedraggled Duo stood before him. There were dark smudges under his eyes indicating that the man hadn't been getting sleep, his eyes were also bloodshot, his hair was...well what used to be a braid but obviously hadn't been touched in at least two days if not more. He had on a loose tank top and shorts, bandages on the knuckles of his hands. He was going to ask Duo who he got in a fight with and obviously lost too when he noticed that Duo hadn't even recognized him yet. Though with his bang still growing out a bit that was kind of understandable...

"You look like shit."

He expected a similar come back, but all Duo did was blink at him, "Triton?"

Worried about the state of Duo's sanity he went for a joking tone, "Pretty sure I'm the only person who looks like me that knows where you live?" And if you've somehow replaced me I'm gonna beat the shit out of you.

There was a long pause before, "Did you get my message?"

Triton nearly face-palmed, "Yes, that's actually why I'm here. I just flew in from L3, told Une she could read my report, that I wasn't in a fit enough state for one of her damn 'debriefings' a.k.a. 'interrogation sessions' and that I was coming to the States first instead of Sanc." And boy had she been pissed! Especially since Triton had literally told her to her face (over a videochat) that her debriefings were more like interrogation sessions. "I'd meant to call you first, but kept falling asleep every chance I got and ending up not having time where I had service. Should I leave?"

It seemed like the man wasn't really all there, and that Triton wasn't really wanted... until he asked if he should leave. The flash of panic that went through tired violet eyes had him worried all over again.

"Christ, no! Com on in." Duo stepped back and allowed him to enter, "Make yourself at home man."

If only, he thought to himself as he removed his combat boots and placed them by the door before heading towards the sofa. That was when he saw the entertainment center, "Shit. You weren't kidding. How'd this even happen?"

The entire right side of the entertainment center was bashed in, the movies that the cupboard had held were currently stacked up against the wall next to it as they would no longer fit inside. The wood was splintered and Triton felt that at any moment it was going to cave in further.

"I'm not really sure, but my hands were pretty banged up for a while." Duo's voice was quiet, the kind of quiet he only got when speaking of the Maxwell Church and Solo. It sent Triton into full on panic mode and he sent Duo a look that told him that wasn't good enough and if there was more he'd better spill it. "I guess I was drunk..."

Triton blinked, that wasn't funny. "You got drunk and picked a fight with your entertainment center? I thought you stopped drinking like that!"

"I had." The finality in Duo's voice brought his mounting panic to a standstill and he frowned.

Studying Duo's bowed head and slouching frame he could only come to one conclusion, and while he knew it was asinine of him, Duo's misery made him the happiest man on the planet. "You were worried about me."

He watched as Duo flinched slightly, "Well, yeah. But I always worry about you guys when you go on no-contact missions."

"Yeah, but this was different." Come on Duo...

"Yes, though I still haven't figured out why."

Triton chuckled at the grumbled reply, unable to keep the smile from his face. Maybe, just maybe he had a chance after all. He took a moment to straighten out his features before delivering his bomb, "Well maybe it was because I nearly got myself killed this time."

He wasn't disappointed with Duo's reaction, the sable head snapping up and violet eyes filled with a kind of fear that Triton hadn't felt since Duo quit being an agent. "What?"

Careful of his still mending body he removed his jacket and pulled up his t-shirt to show Duo the bandages covering his left forearm and most of his chest. "I ended up up against someone who had more ammo than me. When I ran out, I rushed him. Was able to take his snide ass in, but... I've been in the hospital for the last month."

Duo's eyes narrowed and his back straightened, "WuFei said you were fine until a few days ago when he kept telling me he didn't know one way or the other. I'm gonna kill him."

The anger in Duo's voice had his hopes picking up again, "Oh come on Duo, it's not that bad. I'm here aren't I?" He held out his arms for Duo to inspect him, though it hurt like a bitch and decided that he was going to have to talk to WuFei about how he worded things.

He watched as Duo shook his head and moved toward him, nearly sighing as the shorter man wrapped his arms around him. "Yeah, I guess that's good enough."

Triton laughed at the petulant comment and decided to change the subject before he confessed to being head-over-heels in love with the man holding him. "I won't be able to physically help you fix it, but I can talk you through it if you're up for it."

Duo stepped back and nodded, "That'd be great! But let's wait until tomorrow, you look like you're about to pass out."

"Yeah?" Triton wasn't the only one who was tired here damnit! "Well, so do you."

Duo's chuckle had him feeling better than he had since he woke up in the hospital... frankly since the last time he'd seen Duo. Duo led him to his room and had him sit down at the desk while he went about making up the bed, "Feel free to take a shower before you sleep if you'd like."

Triton nodded and headed out to do just that, though when he got to the bathroom he changed his mind and decided to take a bath instead. Getting in a good soak would be beneficial to his sorely taxed muscles. Making the water as hot as he could stand he got undressed and pulled of his bandages, he was happy to note that there wasn't much blood on them anymore and looking in the mirror he could see the problem spots along his stitches. He'd have to be careful with them while scrubbing and drying off.

He slid into the hot water and relaxed for a few minutes before he realized he had no clean clothes. "Duo!"

Triton bit his lip to keep the moan in as Duo entered the room shirtless and in low riding pajama pants, "What can I do for ya hot stuff?"

Did he just? Triton couldn't help the smile, "I left my duffel bag by the front door..."

"Heh, you dork. I'll bring it in for ya."

"Thank you." Triton was never going to get over how damn sexy it was that Duo used more slang when he was tired or emotionally riled about something. The way the L2 native's voice would fur over the shortened words made Triton's body tingle in rather pleasant places. Triton watched the dragon peeking over Duo's pants depart as he left the room and finally registered a newer tattoo on the man's chest when he returned, he'd have to ask him about that later. "Thank you, again."

"Not a problem. While I'm thinking about it, are you hungry at all?" Triton didn't miss how Duo's eyes ran over his body, assessing his wounds with the practiced ease of a war veteran... but Triton knew his only wounds were on his chest and arm... and that's not where Duo's eyes went, and if his slowly tenting pants were any indication... well, maybe WuFei was right and he could just ask Duo out.

"I don't know, I'm more tired than anything else at the moment." An unfortunate truth. "Besides, if you'd like to sleep I can always make myself something." His voice came out a lot huskier than he'd planned but Duo just nodded his head.

"Sure thing. 'Night."

"Goodnight Duo." He left the bathroom so quickly that Triton nearly yelled for him to make sure his braid didn't slap him when he stopped. Triton chuckled and settled in to soak for a while before he carefully scrubbed himself clean and got out. He cracked his jaw with a yawn so he decided to forego food for now and headed to his room. He crawled into bed and willed himself to pass out... between his stomach and his over zealous libido he couldn't sleep.

"Fuck it." He tossed the covers aside and left his bed to head for the kitchen, but some sound from Duo's room had him pausing outside the other man's door. Hearing a low moan he was about to knock and make sure his friend wasn't having a nightmare, but then he heard his own name. A shiver ran through him and he had to take several moments to compose himself and convince his raised hand not to open that door so he could go to 'his' Duo.

He managed, barely, and continued on to the kitchen. He was certainly going to have to talk to Duo at some point. Hearing his name said that way was the most erotic sound he'd ever heard in his life! He found the sandwiches Duo must have made even after Triton had told him he could make something for himself. A smile tugged at his lips over the domesticity of it all as he pulled a small pot and the milk out and set it to heat. He pulled down a mug and filled the bottom of it with chocolate syrup all the while replaying the sounds he'd heard from Duo's room in his head.

Triton turned toward the hallway when he heard a door open, but from the stove he couldn't see anything. He listened as Duo's footsteps headed for the bathroom and shortly after the shower came on. His milk was just getting to the right temperature when Duo came out.

"What'cha doin'?" Damn him and his sexy slangy accent! Triton watched as Duo pulled down a huge bag of Tootsie Rolls and grabbed a handful before replacing it and sitting at the table.

"Making hot chocolate. You want some?" He was pretty sure Duo knew exactly what he was doing, it wasn't as if the braided man had never seen him make it before.

He didn't catch what Duo originally said as his mouth was full of chocolate, "No thanks. I think the hot shower finally helped. Could you not sleep either?"

Triton gave an affirming nod, "Yeah, I've just been laying there staring at the ceiling since I got out of the bath. Figured some hot chocolate might help. And food couldn't hurt either." He glanced over at the plate of sandwiches waiting for him on the table.

"I hope it does, it always helped you during the wars." Duo said around another Tootsie Roll.

"So it did. And usually still does." Triton generally woke from nightmares after particularly hard missions and hot chocolate always put him back to sleep. He poured the milk into his mug and mixed it into the syrup with a spoon before rinsing out the pot and placing it in the sink. He sat down with his drink and picked up a sandwich to eat.

"You don't need any painkiller or anything do you?" Duo's question made him smile as he shook his head.

"No, it's not the wounds that kept me awake." He didn't miss Duo's wince and hastened to assure him that it had not been the wonderful sounds he was making in his own room that had kept him from sleep. "I've just been so stressed lately that suddenly not having anything happening is a little weird." It gave him far too much time to think.

Duo's head cocked to the side and Triton was sure he'd never seen anything more adorable, "Would it help if you had music or something?"

Triton's brows rose and his lips pursed as he considered the idea, "That might help actually." Anything to distract him from his own thoughts, pllllllleeeeassse!

Duo grinned at him as he finished his candy, "I'll get you a radio then. You drink your hot chocolate and eat."

Triton gave a nod and raised his mug to his lips to do just that as he watched Duo bound away, his slowly drying hair sticking to his skin. Mmmm, that's a nice picture. Triton rolled his eyes at himself and ate his food and drank his hot chocolate.

Duo came back out as he was rinsing off his dishes, "All set up."

"Thanks." Triton really did appreciate everything Duo was doing for him. It was obvious the other man was just as if not more exhausted than he was himself.

"No problem. Have a good sleep."

Triton grinned at him as he turned to go back to his room, "Goodnight Duo."

Triton headed back to bed and saw the radio he had painstakingly made every part for on his dresser. He honestly couldn't believe that Duo still had it. He had spent a year making it from scratch, though he told Duo he had simply repaired it when he gave it to him for his birthday several years before. His smile at seeing it grew when one of his favorite songs came on the station Duo had left it on. Unable to resist the urge he went over and placed a kiss on the old radio before heading to bed and finally falling asleep.

He woke to the smells of cooking food, his stomach growling at him. He rose groggily from his bed and shuffled his way into the kitchen. He sat down in a chair and crossed his arms over the table before laying his head on them, "What're you makin'?"

Duo chuckled but Triton was too tired to suss out why, "Omelettes, waffles, and bacon. You want milk to drink or juice?"

"Milk's fine." He yawned, honestly he was too tired to care much, but his stomach insisted it needed food.

Triton sat up as food appeared next to his arms, he grabbed the jam and slathered his waffles, grabbed some bacon and tucked into his omelet. Duo's cooking was divine! He would be forever grateful to the man for teaching him how to cook. He hadn't been super bad at it before, he could follow directions obviously, but now he could make several things from scratch without a recipe.

They ate in silence, Triton honestly too busy stuffing his face to attempt conversation. When they were both finished Duo washed the dishes after telling Triton to get dressed. So Triton had gotten dressed and come back out to figure out how to fix the entertainment center. He took out his handy measuring tape and the note pad generally found in his back pocket. "We'll need to go into town and buy new wood to fix this, nails, and maybe some wood glue. Unless you've got some of that already?"

Duo, now dressed for the day, frowned in thought. "I should have wood glue and nails somewhere. Probably in a box in the closet, I'll go check."

Triton finished his measurements as Duo went to look. When Duo came back and placed the varying nails on the coffee table Triton had to force back a laugh, the smirk he could do nothing about. "We'll need more nails, but I've got enough wood glue."

Triton nodded, "Well, I'm ready when you are."

Duo gave him a smile and headed back to his room before coming back swinging his keys on his finger, "Let's move out."

They put their shoes on and were gone. They spent several hours at the local hardwood store as Triton tried his damnedest to match the original wood of the entertainment center with what was available. Not just size and length, but the type of wood and color as well. Once he was satisfied they had the pieces carefully placed in Duo's Shelby.

"How's fast food sound?" Duo's question couldn't have been better timed as it coincided with his own stomach growling.

"Sounds like heaven. Micky D's?" He knew McDonald's was Duo's favorite fast food joint.

"You know it." It seemed that Duo was in a much better state than when Triton had shown up yesterday.

They ordered their food and Triton fed them both fries while Duo drove them home. Once there they got comfortable and ate their meals before tackling the entertainment center.

It took several hours longer than it would have if Triton had been able to actually help instead of simply directing Duo in what to do to fix the poor thing. Triton was much better with his hands than Duo, except when it came to landscaping, that was something Triton did not have a knack for. Woodwork on the other hand...

Duo plopped down on the sofa next to him as he finished setting the last piece, now all they had to do was wait for it to dry before testing it out. But Triton was confident it would hold just as much weight as before it was damaged. "Well, that oughta teach me not to mess with my entertainment center."

"I would hope so." Triton chuckled, "It's never as much fun to fix a mess as to create one." Except maybe a sex mess... okay brain you can stop ANY time now.

"It sure ain't." Duo's response had him rolling his eyes as he relaxed back into the sofa.


End file.
